Fate of Silver
by RedKnightV13
Summary: This is a novel type story, so I will SUE YOU if you steal this XD. When Silverymoon is attacked by a gigantic force and not even the Legendary General Cain can stop them, who will they turn to? The sons of the General of course! Please RR!
1. Capture Attempt

Hello everyone! I've always wanted to write my own story on this, and now I can! This'll be novelistic in that it comes in chapters, so this will be first chapter and my next post will be second. And this takes place outside of Drizzt's story, so I wont be putting his name in here anywhere (he just doesn't fit in anywhere in my story), so don't ask and don't complain. Here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Forgotten Realms, if I even can, but I do own all created characters in this story, so DON'T TAKE EM!

Prologue

Far up in the northlands, past the Spine of the World, lies Icewind Dale, the forbidding wasteland of near-everlasting winter. This day, deep into the winter season, the Dale was covered in fresh snow from the previous night's blizzard, covering everything in white as far as the eye could see. Tundra Yeti, one of the most dangerous beasts to roam this barren land, were out this day, a few even leaving their formal holes and milling about in search of food. The gates to all the cities of Ten Towns were closed, and few people, if any, would be out this day. But one young man, a middle height, average weight, black haired boy barely into manhood, stood out in the snow, basking in the meager sunlight that shown down. He wore a long sleeve black tunic and black slacks with dark blue runes and designs stitched in all over. His skin was rather tan, and his hair was cropped short, his face cleanly shaven, unusual for one from such a frightfully cold place. Over his tunic he wore a steel harness with black, steel reinforced leather covering his chest and sides. This harness only held it all together, giving little actual protection except for the metal shoulder guards and tasset that hung down at his hips over his dual steel swords in their black, blue-rune covered sheathes. The end of the hilt of each blade held a single sapphire that glimmered in sunlight.

He was traversing a rather dangerous section of the tundra where the ground was all ice and held numerous gorges that were difficult to see unless one were right before them, making it difficult to move quickly. He leapt carefully from one thin walk space to another, crossing a particularly large gorge, and found a tedious hold. He had made his way to the mountain Kelvin's Cairn, a lone mountain in the middle of the tundra, and was heading for a large cave when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps around him. The sound was cleverly disguised, having been made the same moment he'd landed, and wouldn't have been noticed by most others, but this man was far off from the norm.

The moment the sound was made, he was off, sprinting with impossible speed along his current walk space, somehow managing to keep his balance on the slick ice, and then leapt again, clearing another gorge and then falling into a roll down the side on his newest perch, seeming to fall over the edge. As he rolled, he drew one of his swords and stabbed it into the icy wall behind him. There, he figured, none would be able to find him. But suddenly he heard the screech of an unknown beast, some creature not even of this plane by his knowledge, and he looked up into the sky to see a gigantic, featherless, seemingly decaying bird with a black robed man atop it. "A Summoner," He muttered under his breath, then shifted his balance and pushed off the wall, landing lightly across the gorge, catching the edge of the next walk space and pulling himself up onto it. Then he dashed off into across the tundra once again, straight into the cave.

"Blast! He got away!" one mercenary shouted, letting out a stream of curses. He was a small man, and rather weak of arm, but fast and by reputation very stealthy. Unfortunately, however, not stealthy enough to have escaped their target's detection. The rest of the mercenary band, five members in all, the Summoner on the ethereal bird, and a single extra man, their employer, all stood around him, watching his little tirade. "Calm down, Caddus," said the employer, a tall, light skinned man standing at full height closer to seven feet than six. "We have him cornered, there's no way out of that cave except the way he went in." The mercenary leader stopped abruptly, as if realizing this for the first time, then gave a toothy grin and muttered for the rest of the group to follow him to the cave entrance. When they made the cave, Caddus barked at two of his men to stay at the entrance to make sure their quarry didn't back track past them and leave the cave, then moved on inside followed by the three remaining members of the group. The cloaked man paused before moving in, watching the three mercenaries walking ahead of him, then smiled and muttered to himself, "Alright then Bane, let's see how you've grown."

The three mercenaries made little sound as they wandered the icy cave, even the summoned bird moving almost silently as it circled overhead in the shadows of the many stalactites. The cave was very large with many overhead passages all over, making it easy for one to catch someone off guard. Caddus whispered to his two men to branch off and take a couple of those bridges while he and the cloaked man walked down the main path. The nodded and without a word padded away, leaving just Caddus and his employer alone. Caddus nodded to his companion, then the two of them moved father in. As they made their way down the path, the two other mercenaries periodically poked their heads out over the edge of the bridges they were on and motioned the all clear to Caddus, then continue on, but after a while their reports ended and they no longer gave any indication they were even there. Caddus stopped, turning to his employer with a grim expression.

"Something's wrong here, my men haven't reported in a while." The cloaked man nodded, is face completely in shadow.

"Yes, it appears that Bane has gotten to them."

The mercenary leader gave him and incredulous glare at that. "My men are seasoned veterans! You're telling me that some kid just ghosted two of my best men?"

"No, I'm saying he just ghosted three," he said, pointing up where the Summoner was supposed to be.

Caddus looked up and saw the Summoner gone and the great undead bird disappeared with him. He began to panic, looking all around, his heart pounding in his chest. _How! How could this have happened? No man could do such a thing!_ He gripped the hilt of his silver dagger as he spun around, searching everywhere for the seemingly invisible man. "Where are you?" he shouted, anger and fear apparent in his voice.

"Here."

Caddus jumped and spun, surprised and scared at the sudden voice. After a few moments of staring into the open air where he'd heard the voice, he began again to frantically search the surrounding area. "Show yourself coward!" the mercenary leader shouted, drawing his dagger and holding it defensively before him.

"If that is your wish," the voice said again.

Caddus turned to the source of the voice and before him stood Bane, dual swords in their sheathes, eyes shadowed by the dim lighting of the cave. The sight of this man shook him, scared him so much he nearly wet himself. After a moment, he composed himself to an extent and leapt forward, swinging his dagger in a vicious sidelong slash. Bane quickly dodged the attack, ducking under it effortlessly, then came up with a strong right uppercut, knocking the man out in a single hit. Then he turned on the cloaked man, the employer of the mercenary band.

"What do you want from me?" he asked, his voice dark but his demeanor relaxed.

Despite his seeming security, the cloaked man knew that this warrior was fully prepared to draw his blades before he could get within striking distance. "Why have I been so hunted for these past months?"

"You've a price upon your head; you are to be captured and brought to me, but it appears you've become something of a challenge, and all my past mercenary bands have failed in the attempt to take you. Now I have come to take care of this matter personally." The man let his cloak open revealing a beautifully crafted two-handed scimitar and a suit of black lacquered leather armor with crimson designs and runes oddly similar to the ones Bane wore on every piece. He man slowly drew his blade and set himself into a comfortable defensive fighting stance, blade held vertically before him. "Now I shall finish this business. You shall come with me, or die in this cave."

Bane's smile betrayed the serious look in his eyes as he drew is own blades slowly, then in a blur of motion charged forward at the man. Despite the speed of the attack, the man matched the charge with a sidestep to dodge the first blade and whipping his blade to the side to parry the second. With surprising speed matching Bane's own, the man brought the scimitar back up in a backhand slash would have taken his Bane's arm had he not cross-parried it with both blades. In this position, the two men were unable to get an upper hand either way and were in a deadlock. Their speed and strength were identical, so their blades never moved though both were pushing with all their strength. Then they both leapt back, blades at the ready for another charge. But, instead of an attack, Bane was surprised to see it when his opponent suddenly broke down in a fit of laughter. Sheathing his blade, the man pulled back the cowl of his cloak and revealed his face. When he did this, Bane's hands went suddenly weak, his grip on his blades faltering as he muttered slowly, "Rane…?"

The man laughed again, stepping forward and presenting his hand to Bane. "Yes, it is I, brother. It's good to see you too!"


	2. Trip to Silverymoon

Thanks for the review, and don't worry, Bane isn't a god or anything; just a damn good warrior. Anyways, on with the story!

Bane stood gaping for a moment longer, then pulled himself together and took a step back. "Why are you here?" he asked, his voice dark and low.

Rane was slightly taken aback by this. How could his brother, once his closest friend, hold such anger and distrust against him? _Well, _he thought,_ there is that little detail about the mercenaries… guess I oughta explain that to him…_

"Look, I'm sorry about the mercenaries, but I needed to contact you in the least suspicious manner possible. If the people though I was simply buying a few extra hands to deal with a dangerous renegade, none would question me. After a while though, so many strong bands of mercenaries came back battered that I had to come myself, and still no one questioned me. But if they knew I was attempting to find _you_ well… that would be a whole different story…"

Bane paused a moment, then, seeing the logic of it, sheathed his blades. "Makes sense I guess. I'm not exactly on the best of terms with Silverymoon society." He took Rane's offered hand and clasped it with a tight grip. "It's good to see you again Rane."

Rane smiled for a moment, then it faded as a thought came to him. "Bane, where are the other mercenaries?"

Bane's face remained neutral as he said simply, "They're dead."

Rane's mouth turned down in a scowl. "Bane, I know you better than that. Where are they? Tell me so that we can leave now."

Bane's face did not change. "I told you; they're all dead."

"Bane…"

"What?"

"Baaaaane…!"

"What? I already told you their fates!"

"BANE!"

Bane paused a moment, then sighed dejectedly and pounded the wall beside him. A section of the ice and stone fell away and behind it were the mercenaries, all gagged and pinned up against the far wall of a large secret cubby roomy enough for all five to be hung from the wall without being cramped up. "You know me too well."

Rane's smile returned and he simply said, "Yes I do, Bane. Yes I do."

Rane and Bane sat on opposite sides of a roaring fire, Bane preparing dinner for the night and Rane tending the mercenaries' wounds. Most were just bruised heads, as all the others before had been, but the Summoner had been a bit unlucky and had decent sized gash across the arm. Given a caster's great intolerance to pain, he had fainted from the blow without a sound, and as Bane had explained his summoned bird simply disappeared, nearly causing them both to fall to their deaths, but Bane had latched on to a stalagmite and they had slid safely to the floor. They all grumbled and watched Bane closely, but were silent otherwise. When Rane was done, he turned to Bane.

"So, how's life been in the Silver Marches since I left?" Bane asked suddenly.

"Actually I wouldn't know. In fact, I had only just returned to Silverymoon around a month ago. I had been out pirate hunting with Araela."

"Araela? Who's that?"

"Just a friend; she's been traveling with me for the past few years helping me hunt the pirates along the Sword Coast. We still haven't quite matched the record of Captain Deudermont, but I think we were getting close."

"Telling stories again, Rane?" Bane jumped to his feet when the sudden voice came from beyond the tree line. Rane held up his hand to stop his brother and watched as a particularly striking female elf appeared from the trees. "You know, you really need to…. Who is he?"

Rane stood and walked between Bane and the elf. "Araela, I'd like you to meet Bane, my brother. Bane, this is Araela, my companion I was talking to you about."

Bane inclined his head in greeting, and Araela bowed slightly, then turned to Rane. "Is 'Bane' not the rogue we were supposed t be hunting on this quest? I thought you said…"

"Yes, yes, I know what I said, but understand that I only told you that we were hunting a renegade because I knew you would tell the General if we were doing otherwise. Please understand why I had to lie to you; I really didn't want to, but it was necessary."

Araela gave Bane a sidelong look, as if gauging how much of a threat, then sighed and muttered, "I trust you, and forgive you, but tell me your true meaning next time, ok?"

Rane nodded his assent, then turned back to the fire. "So Bane, tell me; how has life treated you since you left?"

Bane shrugged. "It was as you saw; I've been living in and around Ten Towns for a while now. I came to Icewind Dale soon after leaving Silverymoon."

"Yes, but first you had stopped by that out of the way village didn't you? What happened there? Why did you leave?"

Bane looked down into the pot he was working over and then turned to Rane. "Dinner is ready. Eat now, before it all goes cold. Believe me when I say; everything gets cold very quickly here."

Rane, noting Bane's discomfort on the subject for otherwise he wouldn't have changed the subject of the conversation, nodded and sat down; taking the offered bowl of some kind of stew Bane had prepared and handed the other to Araela who sat down next to him. He began eating and, though he had not blown into the bowl, the soup was already only moderately warm. Bane was right; things got cold very quickly.

"So, Rane, what is your plan on getting me into the city? You know as well as I my reputation; I'm most likely not welcome there being 'The Scourge of the Silvery Marches' as I am."

Araela jumped at this, turning to Rane quickly. "What does he mean by that?"

Rane chuckled, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "Nothing, don't worry about it." Then he turned the Bane and said, "I've got a plan, though you may not like it much."


	3. Stressful Homecoming: Battle Plans

Aighty, I skipped past the trip cause I figured there's nothing important that would have to be there, so here's the next chapie!

When they arrived at Silverymoon, Rane paid off his debt to the mercenaries and they parted ways, the mercenaries heading back to the small village Rane had found them in and Rane, Araela, and a heavily clothed old woman headed for Silverymoon. As they walked, the old lady came up beside Rane and muttered angrily, "I'm gonna kill you when we get past these guards! I could have just climbed that wall and made it to the General's quarters completely unseen before you could get there walking down the main road! So why in the nine hells am I dressed like this?"

Rane muffled a laugh with his hand, then looked down at the hunched frame of Bane in disguise. "But where's the fun in that?"

Before Bane could manage a reply, they had reached the guardhouse and a pair of guards saluted Rane as he passed, casting a questioning eye over Bane – thought they thought he was just some old hag – but said nothing. Once inside, Bane turned down an alley, then came back out another just on the other side of the building a few moments later with all the thick blankets and the itchy wool dress gone. He cast a dangerous glare over his brother, then turned and headed down the road.

(Blah, blah, blah; they're walking, they're walking… ok, now they're there)

Upon reaching the audience chamber of Lady Alustriel, Rane, Bane, and Araela walked straight past the two guards positioned at the double doors and into the hall. The guards stared in black amazement and fear as 'The Scourge of the Silver Marches' walked past them, then, as if remembering who they were, jumped up to block his path, but he was already inside.

"My Lady," Rane called out when they entered, acknowledging his queen, "I have returned from Icewind Dale!" His step faltered a moment as he saw that he had just walked in on a conversation between Alustriel and General Cain. The General turned to him, a wide grin on his face, and Alustriel nodded her head to show she heard.

"Welcome home, Rane. You've arrived right on time, as you said you would," she said, standing from her throne.

General Cain ambled over, his heavy armor rattling as he moved, and came up to Rane. "Welcome back, boy!" he howled, grabbing Rane and picking him up in his arms.

"Good to see you too, father," Rane gasped, the tight grip his father held him in nearly suffocating him then and there. The General eased his grip and Rane continued. "I have completed my mission in good time, and have brought back someone you might know. Father, I present to you—"

Suddenly, the guards barged in and one of them shouted, "The Scourge! The Scourge of the Silver Marches is here!" As soon as they ran in, they spotted Bane standing off to the side and charged him with lances held up before them.

Before they had gone a step, Bane had his swords out and was fully prepared for the attack. As they came on, Bane slapped away one spear and almost got off a counterattack but the other lance came in too quickly and he was forced to jump aside to dodge it. The two guards came in slowly and carefully, moving in unison, and then were about to jump when a commanding voice filled the air.

"Stop now!" shouted the General, storming toward them. The guards were cowed by the General's anger, the size of the man enough to scare any soldier in itself, and backed off from Bane, careful as not to stay within range of his glimmering blades. Bane stopped as well, then sheathed his blades and slowly turned to face Cain. The furry in the man's eyes flickered for a moment, then died all together and he stopped moving. The two stood there for a long moment, the tense silence making the soldiers squirm a bit. Their armor rattled a bit and this brought the General out of his reverie and his anger returned. "Leave now! Back to your posts!" The two soldiers bowed quickly and scurried off back out of the audience chamber. Then the General turned back to Bane.

"Father," Bane muttered, still not moving.

The General paused a moment, then nodded to Bane and turned back to Alustriel. "I'm sorry for my actions, my Lady; it is not in my right to order your personal guard."

Alustriel simply shrugged. "I see no fault in that, I was about to say the same thing, though not with as much force or anger." She turned her head slightly and looked directly at Bane. "And you," she said kindly, though not without some hostility, "if I remember correctly, you were gone to some out skirting village, were you not? What happened there, and why are you back?"

Bane visibly flinched at the mention of the village, and so Rane stepped forward to speak. "My Lady, I brought him back here from Icewind Dale to help out in our current time of trouble. Despite his reputation, I believe he will be a valuable asset."

Alustriel nodded, then said, "And I recall you never believed the charges pressed on him either. Is this true?"

Rane nodded back. "He would never do such things."

Alustriel sighed and looked to Bane, then back to Rane. "Well, now that you are here, I guess I should explain the situation. Currently we are under attack by a great horde of orcs and goblins, but so far we haven't been able to track them down and take them out. Three villages have already fallen and each time we send out our Knights in Silver and show up to find them all gone. The good news about this, however, is that it gives us the chance to save the survivors, but if we cannot find these beasts they shall continue to take village after village until Silverymoon itself is the only one left standing. And then we shall have to take this force head on. Normally, I wouldn't be worried, but from their surprisingly clever tactics, and the sheer number of orcs and goblins, I am."

Rane nodded, glancing over to make sure Bane was paying attention, and then, seeing how Bane was fully engaged in the conversation, turned back to Alustriel. "Well why don't we send out platoons to each of the remaining villages, that way we can engage the enemy while the other troops are coming in?"

"We have tried that, and each time we did either our platoon went down quickly, or once another platoon left to reinforce the other, another part of the horde would take the now unprotected village. So you see that just wont work. We need someone to infiltrate the enemy's stronghold, which they shall have to find as well, and gather information on how many orcs the group consists of and who the leader is. And, if possible, that person would then engage and slay the leader."

Bane, who had been leaning back on the far wall, pushed away and turned away.

"Bane? Where are you going?" Rane called to him.

Bane stopped and turned back, simply stating, "To get ready," and then turned again and walked out the door.

Rane looked back to Alustriel and Cain, bowed, then took Araela's arm and followed Bane out of the chamber.


End file.
